Method and apparatus for providing supplemental video content for third party websites

Abstract

A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for providing supplemental video content for third party websites is disclosed. In one embodiment, coded instructions are transmitted from a content enhancement server to a host server, for incorporation into the webpage source code. The host server is controlled by a first entity and the content enhancement server is controlled by a second entity commercially distinct from the first entity. Keywords are obtained by executing of the coded instructions in the webpage received in the client computer from the host server to send the address of the requested webpage to the content enhancement server, which generates supplemental substantive video content information for transmission to the client.

1. A method for providing new supplemental substantive video content in a distributed web page, the method comprising:
 configuring at least one coded instruction for embedding into a webpage, the at least one coded instruction executable for determining an address of a requested webpage in which the at least one coded instruction is embedded and transmitting the address to a content enhancement server, wherein the webpage comprises a link to a second webpage; 
 transmitting the at least one coded instruction from the content enhancement server to the host server; 
 receiving an address of the requested webpage from a client computer that has obtained the webpage from the host server, wherein the address of the requested webpage is transmitted at least in part by execution of the at least one coded instruction on the client computer; 
 parsing the webpage to identify the link to the second webpage; 
 accessing content in the second webpage; 
 generating keywords from the requested webpage and the second webpage in the content enhancement server, based on the address of the requested webpage received from the client computer; 
 generating supplemental video content information from the keyword generated in the content enhancement server, the supplemental substantive video content information identifying video content supplementing the substantive content of the webpage; and 
 transmitting the supplemental substantive video content information from the content enhancement server to the client computer configured for outputting the video content by a media player application executing on the client computer. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating keywords from the requested webpage in the content enhancement server comprises: accessing the requested webpage at the received address; and generating keywords from the accessed webpage. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating keywords from the requested webpage in the content enhancement server comprises: prior to receiving the address of the webpage, crawling a plurality of webpages to identify a keyword for each of a plurality of webpages and indexing the identified keyword for each of the plurality of webpages by the address associated with each of the plurality of webpages; and
 after receiving the address of the requested webpage from the client computer, determining if the address of the requested webpage is one of the addresses. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the supplemental video content comprises an address to a supplemental video. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 presenting the webpage comprising a link to the address of the supplemental video on a display communicatively coupled to the client computer; 
 accepting a selection of the link in the client computer; and 
 presenting the supplemental video to the user on a display communicatively coupled to the client computer. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the address of the requested webpage is transmitted at least in part by:
 receiving a request for at least one second coded instruction from the client computer, the request transmitted by the client computer at least in part by execution of the at least one first coded instruction; 
 transmitting at least one second coded instruction to the client computer; and 
 receiving the address of the requested webpage by execution of the at least one second coded instruction. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one first coded instruction is selected from the group comprising: a servlet; a snippet; an applet; and a plug in for a browser executing on the client computer. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving information associated with supplemental substantive video content preferences; and
 the supplemental video content information is generated according to the supplemental substantive video content preferences. 
 
     
     
       9. An apparatus for providing new supplemental substantive video content in a distributed web page, the method comprising:
 means for configuring at least one coded instruction for embedding into a webpage, the at least one coded instruction executable for determining an address of a requested webpage in which the at least one coded instruction is embedded and transmitting the address to a content enhancement server, wherein the webpage comprises a link to a second webpage; 
 means for transmitting the at least one coded instruction from the content enhancement server to the host server; 
 means for receiving an address of the requested webpage from a client computer that has obtained the webpage from the host server, wherein the address of the requested webpage is transmitted at least in part by execution of the at least one coded instruction on the client computer; 
 means for parsing the webpage to identify the link to the second webpage; 
 means for accessing content in the second webpage; 
 means for generating keywords from the requested webpage and the second webpage in the content enhancement server, based on the address of the requested webpage received from the client computer; 
 means for generating supplemental video content information from the keyword generated in the content enhancement server, the supplemental substantive video content information identifying video content supplementing the substantive content of the webpage; and 
 means for transmitting the supplemental substantive video content information from the content enhancement server to the client computer configured for outputting the video content by a media player application executing on the client computer. 
 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the means for generating keywords from the requested webpage in the content enhancement server comprises: means for accessing the requested webpage at the received address; and means for generating keywords from the accessed webpage. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the means for generating keywords from the requested webpage in the content enhancement server comprises: means for crawling a plurality of webpages to identify a keyword for each of a plurality of webpages and indexing the identified keyword for each of the plurality of webpages by the address associated with each of the plurality of webpages prior to receiving the address of the webpage; and means for determining if the address of the requested webpage is one of the addresses after receiving the address of the requested webpage from the client computer. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the supplemental video content comprises an address to a supplemental video. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 means for presenting the webpage comprising a link to the address of the supplemental video on a display communicatively coupled to the client computer; 
 means for accepting a selection of the link in the client computer; and 
 means for presenting the supplemental video to the user on a display communicatively coupled to the client computer. 
 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 means for receiving a request for at least one second coded instruction from the client computer, the request transmitted by the client computer at least in part by execution of the at least one first coded instruction; 
 means for transmitting at least one second coded instruction to the client computer; and 
 means for receiving the address of the requested webpage by execution of the at least one second coded instruction. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one first coded instruction is selected from the group comprising: a servlet; a snippet; an applet; and a plug in for a browser executing on the client computer. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the apparatus further comprises means for receiving information associated with supplemental substantive video content preferences; and
 the supplemental video content information is generated according to the supplemental substantive video content preferences. 
 
     
     
       17. A computer readable storage device, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions which when accessed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for providing new supplemental substantive video content in a distributed web page, comprising instructions for:
 configuring at least one coded instruction for embedding into a webpage, the at least one coded instruction executable for determining an address of a requested webpage in which the at least one coded instruction is embedded and transmitting the address to a content enhancement server, wherein the webpage comprises a link to a second webpage; 
 transmitting the at least one coded instruction from the content enhancement server to the host server; 
 receiving an address of the requested webpage from a client computer that has obtained the webpage from the host server, wherein the address of the requested webpage is transmitted at least in part by execution of the at least one coded instruction on the client computer; 
 parsing the webpage to identify the link to the second webpage; 
 accessing content in the second webpage; 
 generating keywords from the requested webpage and the second webpage in the content enhancement server, based on the address of the requested webpage received from the client computer; 
 generating supplemental video content information from the keyword generated in the content enhancement server, the supplemental substantive video content information identifying video content supplementing the substantive content of the webpage; and 
 transmitting the supplemental substantive video content information from the content enhancement server to the client computer configured for outputting the video content by a media player application executing on the client computer.